


Courage to Change

by prettybirdy979



Category: Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Interviews, Newspapers, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Post-Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 22:48:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6726490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettybirdy979/pseuds/prettybirdy979
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes the best defence is a good offence. Especially when you're not going to be allowed to offer a good defence in the first place. </p><p>(Or Daredevil meets some of the fallout of Captain America: Civil War)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Courage to Change

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR! LIKE MAJOR, ENDING BIG KIND OF SPOILERS! RUN AWAY SCREAMING IF YOU'VE NOT SEEN AND DON'T WANNA BE SPOILED!
> 
> Now that's said, I must say that I AM NOT A LAWYER! However I walked out feeling put out at the laugh when Steve mentioned a lawyer and figured my two favourite fictional lawyers would have thoughts and feelings on the Accords. This is my attempt to work through them working through the Accords.

**It’s been the only topic in the news for the last week, as the controversial Sokovian Accords were first ratified in Vienna amidst tragedy then immediately put to the test. Today news has broken of the results of this test, as a manhunt for Captain America and his ‘renegade’ Avengers begins after what is being called an impressive prison break from an undisclosed location. In the midst of this, this reporter sits down with New York lawyer Franklin ‘Foggy’ Nelson, one of the more vocal objectors to the Accords, to discuss legalities, human rights, and Daredevil.**

**So Franklin-**

Call me Foggy.

 **Foggy. Can I ask** **_why_ ** **you object to the Sokovian Accords? Do you think regulation of so called ‘superheroes’ is something we shouldn’t be doing?**

Whoa, not pulling any punches there are you? Straight to the hard questions! Well, it’s not that I object to regulation. I am all for regulation! Regulation of society is why I have job after all, no laws means no reason for lawyers. What I am against is _this_ method of regulation. The Sokovian Accords are a knee jerk reaction to a series of horrific events that only creates the potential for more, even worse events.

**You mean like the ones in Schkeuditz, Germany two days ago? When the showdown between warring factors of the Avengers caused nearly a billion dollars of damage and lead to the imprisonment of four former Avengers?**

Well, yes. But more so the resulting prison escape. Did you know that under the Accords any person that they are deemed to apply to can be held without trial? Hell, they don’t even _charge_ them and there’s definitely no right to legal council. The Accords also explicitly state that only person deemed to be a hazard to public safety can be ‘dispatched’ with the approval of two or more of the members of the administrating council.

**Dispatched? What’s that mean?**

Executed. They can be executed because two people think they’re a threat to public safety. Even the death penalty here requires a jury of twelve to at least convict the person, if not sentence them directly. We’re relying on the judgement of two people from a council of ten or so people whose identities have not even been released the public - supposedly for their protection - to decide if a person who _has not been convicted of a crime_ deserves to die for their alleged actions. And that’s kinda a major affront to justice.

**So you object not to the idea of the Accords but the practice?**

Basically, yeah. I like my regulations to not violate human rights and basic human decency. You know, as a start.

**Is that why you’ve been so vocal in your objections?**

...Yes. Yes that’s why.

********

**_Earlier:_ **

‘Matt?’

When there’s no answer after four knocks and three calls, Foggy fishes in his bag for the key Matt gave him two days after everything went down. It still works so he lets himself into Matt’s apartment, newspaper tucked under one arm. The place hasn’t changed that much, a little darker in the early dawn light and maybe a few more files dumped all over the place. It’s a bit of a slap to the face, to see how hard Matt’s working at his new job as a public defender when he never could manage the same amount of effort for their firm but then maybe that’s because there’s no Foggy to cover for him there.

Case in point, Matt’s asleep at his table on top of a bunch of files while still wearing half his Daredevil gear. Something that might be a fond smile creeps onto Foggy’s face but shifting moves the newspaper under his arm, reminding him why he’s here.

‘Matt?’ he calls and Matt jumps awake, eyes wide and head darting all over the place.

His blank gaze settles to the left of Foggy and he sighs. ‘Foggy. Wha- why are you here? What time is it?’

‘Ah, like six. Or just before.’ Matt blinks and reaches for his wrist. He makes a face as he touches it, clearly only remembering then he’s not actually wearing his watch. ‘Yeah Buddy, I know it’s early but we need to talk.’

‘We do?’ Matt says, making his usual ‘You’re confusing and annoying me but I’m too polite and Catholic to call you out on it’ face. Foggy loves that face; it somehow combines polite inquiry and tilted head with pissed off eyebrow raise.

‘Uh huh.’ He dumps the newspaper on the table, getting an unimpressed look from Matt.

‘You know I can’t read that.’

‘I know Buddy, it’s not for you, it’s for me.’ Unfolding it, Foggy runs his hands along the headline and flattens the paper in the same movement. ‘They ratified the Sokovian Accords and Captain America is a fugitive because of them.’

Matt blinks a few times. ‘What?’

‘The Sokovian Accords? The thing that makes it basically illegal for any ‘gifted’ person to interfere without international governmental sanction? It’s _law_ now.’ Matt sighs and rises, pulling off the last of the armor he’s wearing. ‘So now you’re not only breaking New York state law, you’re breaking _international_ law.’

‘Only if they realise I’m ‘gifted’,’ he says, putting so much derision into the word ‘gifted’ Foggy’s sure it’s nearly a swear word. ‘Which, they’re not likely to do.’

‘They will if you get caught! No way they believe a blind guy does what you do without _something_ and that’s enough to put you under these laws.’ Matt rolls his eyes and walks towards his bedroom, turning his back to Foggy. ‘Matt, they’ll _kill_ you.’

He stops, snapping back around to face Foggy. ‘What?’

Foggy takes a deep breath. ‘The Accords allow for any ‘gifted’ individual to be ‘dispatched’ if they prove a hazard to the safety of the public that cannot be resolved without undue risk. Tell me that if you were cornered, you’d go quietly.’ The way Matt looks away is answer enough. ‘Yeah, thought so.’

‘So what do you want me to do? Submit to the Accords? Publicly admit who I am? That would only put you in danger - Karen and Claire too and everyone we’ve ever known.’

Foggy sighs and takes a seat at Matt’s dining table, wishing for one minuscule moment, he had a less stubborn friend. It would make his life so much easier and less frustrating… he ignores the thought that that would be a boring life.

‘Come on Foggy, what would you have me do?’ Matt pushes, taking two steps forward so he’s standing in front of Foggy. ‘You know why I can’t submit to regulation, it’s not what I do. They protect the world, I protect my - _our_ \- city. And these laws… these laws are _wrong_.’

‘You can’t argue that regulation is wrong,’ Foggy says, the familiar, if recent, argument springing to his lips without conscious thought.

A flicker of movement on Matt’s face, something that might be the ghost of a smirk. ‘Regulation caused by fear and panic only leads to unjust laws. The Accords are not built on calm and reasoned legal argument; they’re the results of rushed law making and panicked agreements.’

‘The world needs protecting from people with extraordinary abilities,’ Foggy says, ‘or at least those who misuse and abuse them. From people that cannot be contained by ordinary measures; cannot be stopped by regular police forces.’

‘And who decides who falls into that category?’ Matt settles back into the seat he was asleep in. ‘Who makes the call that someone’s abilities are extraordinary? Because you’re right, my abilities are extraordinary but only if you know the full extent of them. For most people, Daredevil is just a well trained fighter who’s decided to take the law into his own hands.’

That gets a raised eyebrow from Foggy. It’s the first time Matt’s admitted what he does is explicitly taking the law into his own hands, rather than using a euphemism for administering justice or some shit like that. ‘So we need a transparent system in place. That’s still better than one man deciding to use his abilities to take the law into his own hands!’

‘And are the Accords a transparent system?’ Matt asks and Foggy can’t hide his flinch. Matt’s always been able to get to the question Foggy didn’t want him to ask, to find the thought or feeling he’s been hiding from. ‘Foggy, are they?’

Foggy sighs. ‘No. No they’re not.’

Matt blinks, gaping a bit at Foggy. ‘You… you agree with me?’

‘I wouldn’t go that far buddy. I definitely think these Accords are totally what should be happening, we need regulation and accountability for superheroes just like everyone else.’ You’d be safer if you had regulation and accountability, Foggy thinks but will never say. ‘Just, these Accords? Are completely unjust. You don’t even have the right to a _lawyer_ under them.’

‘Well shit.’

‘Yeah. So… I’m worried about you Buddy. If you fall onto the wrong side of these… you’re _toast_.’

Matt rises, crossing his arms and raising his head in a clear challenge. ‘So I should sign up before that happens? Support an unjust regulation?’

Foggy rises too, deliberately putting his hands by his side, with unclenched fists, and letting as much tension fall from his shoulders as he can. He takes deep breaths, to calm his racing heart and hopes he’s relaxed enough to calm Matt down. ‘Okay I’ve never said that. At what point did I say that?’

Something relaxes in Matt’s body, a tenseness leaks out of it as he pauses for a long moment. ‘...Never. You… you didn’t say I should sign.’

‘Yeah, I didn’t. Good work there, thanks for noticing. We need laws like these but we don’t need _these_ laws. They’re the wrong solution to the problem.’

Matt tilts his head, the rest of his body moving to mirror Foggy’s. ‘What would you have me do?’ he repeats, in a softer voice than before.

‘Easy. If the law is unjust-’

‘-change the law.’

********

**...A final question then, to bring this all back to home. Do the Accords apply to Hell’s Kitchen resident ‘superhero’ Daredevil? What does it mean if they do… or if they don’t?**

It all comes back to what I said earlier about how they define what makes an ability an extraordinary one. Daredevil… well no one’s really gotten close enough to tell if he’s just a really good fighter or he’s somehow ‘enhanced’ - is that the word the cool kids are using now? - and that should make the difference. Of course, he’s not exactly going to get a chance to argue his case because like I said, no due process and no definitely no right to counsel, even when on American soil. But if he’s just a damned good fighter taking the law into his own hands… then he’s a vigilante. An _ungifted_ one who deserves his day in court, like everyone else - including those who were held without charge at this ‘undisclosed location’ before their escape.

**So you think-**

I think that’s another question there Miss Page. Wasn’t that your last one?

**Good point. Any final words?**

Another question! But one I’ll actually answer. I think… I think I want to sum up by restating that I agree with the idea behind the Sokovian Accords. People like Captain America and his Avengers should be subject to regulation and accountability. No one man should wield that much power, even if they’ve got the safest hands around. But the Sokovian Accords are a _failure_ , laws that create more injustice than they solve and cause more human suffering than they prevent. They should be a stepping stone to something better, something that takes into consideration the human rights they’ve seemingly forgotten and actually manages to solve all the problems we’ve created - both the Avengers and us.

**_Karen Page is a reporter at the New York Bulletin. Anyone with feedback, comments or questions is welcome to contact her there._ **

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Punching the perfect white teeth](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6727435) by [Sukugaru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sukugaru/pseuds/Sukugaru)




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